I leave Wardensville and goto an area where I only have dialup for a few weeks and posting goes nuts on here. lol
I did want to get back on here as soon as possible and try to get back in the rhythm of things and get my DCSki fix that I was going without for way too long. Anyway to brief everyone on some changes that have been going on around here with me.
On August 25 I moved out of Wardensville due to a court ordered 10 day eviction notice that was the result from a nasty divorce case with those whom owned the house I was living in. I basically had to spend several days packing everything I had without the help of any friends or neighbors and cover my butt and leave the area like a scalded dog. Dealing with the husband who appearantly won the house in the divorce case was anxiously wanting me to violate the eviction order and to have me arrested. Talk about a vengeful lunatic. Anyway this left me to move up to my family's property located in Lost City, WV right smack in the middle of where the dam is to be built.
I knew this day was coming and had expected that the owner would allow me to stay until the new house is built (also located smack dab in the middle of the proposed lake) which is supposed to be finished by mid-October. Well that didn't happen and now I'm sharing a residence with relatives also on site here until the time comes that I can move my business and personal life into the new house. For those interested, Wardensville clocks in at an elevation of around 990'-1000'. Lost City is approximately 20 miles south and at an elevation of 1600' that has surprisingly been known to get a bit more snow than the northern part of Hardy County.
Now that I am here, I have my business operating at about 50%, trying to co-exist with family members which is going quite well. I'll be happy once the new house is finished and I can really get to business and get things done. Actually I'll just be happy once DSL can get hooked up.
On to other news... There have been some developments with the Lower Cove Dam site in the past two months. Back on July 18 all land owners and residents received a petition for right of entry with a court date ALREADY scheduled for Aug 2, just to get it in in the required 2 week time period. We hurriedly met with our two lawyers to get something prepared and ready.
On August 2 we entered court to fight the right of entry petition. The opposition side (Potomac Valley Soil Conservation District and the NRCS) basically did not offer any evidence as to why it was needed to enter the land again. Because in 2005 the same group had right of entry to the property to gather data to create their environmental impact statement which we forced them to create. These groups stated at this document was a finished product in May. The lawyer for their side argued that we residence are holding up this process and we knew this was coming and we are just making things difficult for these organizations. Yes, the lawyer ACTUALLY said that!!
Our lawyers argued for a delay making allegations that the process used to get this right of entry violated local, state, and federal laws. We indeed did have tons of evidence backing this that no official vote was ever taken in ANY board meetings requesting right of entry for example. Unfortunately the judge ruled in favor of the opposition side although granted us a 30 day grace period.
On September 2 we received notice that the core drilling, survey, and archaeological crews would be on site starting Sept 10. Before this date rolled around our lawyers sought an injunction of this right of entry until the illegal allegations could be brought to light and that there was no loss to the opposition if they waited a few months for the illegal allegations to pan out.
Well the opposition lawyer at a hearing screamed profanities for 15 min and without any reason and refusing to give a reason,the judge denied the injunction, but did set a date for ANOTHER hearing on Sept 11 in the court house to hear about the allegations.
On September 11... a day AFTER the surveyors and core drilling crews had already entered the property. Court proceeded for several hours with our lawyers bringing witness after witness to the witness stand to testify that these organizations had violated their own laws and protocols for establishing this right of entry. Our lawyers in fact grilled the opposition witnesses up and down until they all pretty much cracked. However at the end of the day the judge was leaning towards allowing the right of entry to continue. But at the end, the judge requested a few more documents and decided to delay his ruling... all the while STILL allowing the crews to have right of entry access. It wouldn't surprise me if the judge intentionally did this (after being bought off of course) to let right of entry pan out and then issue a ruling so that it benefited the opposition side.
As of this time, no ruling has yet been given all for which I presume relates to the above that I mentioned. We are armed to the teeth with more and more evidence of illegal behavior, violating of laws on the local, state, and even federal levels so things are building back here and look to explode possibly on a national level very soon.
Back before our August 2 hearing, we started generating some media attention and a news paper from Hampshire county called the "Hampshire Review" wrote an article of which everyone can view here:
http://www.savelostriver.org/article-pt2.jpghttp://www.savelostriver.org/article-pt1.jpgI had problems splicing it so I made it two parts. Even though he headline is on Pt1, the actual article starts on Pt2. With everything going on, if anyone is willing to donate to help pay our legal fund, anyone can donate either by check or credit card at:
http://www.savelostriver.org/donate.php Any and ALL donations go 100% towards our legal bill and nothing else. All of our media attention comes purely out of pocket for ads and such.
Bradley
